


When the stars go blue

by Terfle



Category: Wicked - Schwartz/Holzman
Genre: F/M, Magic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 09:29:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 9,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12478496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terfle/pseuds/Terfle
Summary: Dorothy & co go up to the castle to find the Wicked Witch. Elphaba reluctantly invites them in but discovers not all is as it seems. Will Dorothy & her horrible dog go home? Will the lion get his courage? Elphaba wants those shoes back





	1. Chapter 1

The four figures picked their way through treacherous rocks up to the castle, a little dog yapping at their heels. Overhead the tower leaned at an odd angle, overlooking their shadows with a menacing air. Dorothy could be heard telling the others that _they must stick together, no matter what otherwise the witch would try to undermine them._ The lion responded with a growl that shook the loose bricks and the tin man waved his axe around threateningly. Only the scarecrow said nothing, traipsing up the rocks with his head and shoulders down, almost resigned to the fate that would lead them up to the castle of the wicked witch of the west.

She watched them from a window, the one nearest to the door. She hadn’t expected them so soon but now that they’d got up here safely, she had no wish to let them leave without complications. She intended to single out Dorothy for both those remarks and the shining shoes upon her feet which the moon had helpfully highlighted just a moment ago. Taking a minute to channel her white hot anger into cool silver calm, Elphaba turned away from the window and adjusted her hat, fastened her cloak around her. Witch she was called, witch she would be. If that Dorothy was expecting a fight, she would get one.

Arriving at the sturdy wooden door, Dorothy and company paused and took a deep breath as one, marshalling all their courage to knock on the entrance to certain terror. She of the shining shoes drew a breath and raised a hand to the door, the imprint of her timid fist made no impact on it. Elphaba, coming down the stairs, could barely be bothered to wait for them to break down the door, by this rate; she’d be waiting for days. They’d find her in the kitchen with all those several bottles of wine stored in the cellar almost finished. If she wasn’t careful, she might actually drink it all.

She marched to the door and opened the spy hole. The invaders on the other side were to be seen anxiously huddling around, the top of their heads open to inspection. That Dorothy girl had a bit of dandruff, she observed carelessly and the lion’s mane needed a good comb. Not that she cared. The tin man’s hat was a bit rusty and the scarecrow was nothing out of the ordinary. If anyone had chanced to look up, they would have seen a fisheye glaring at them on high. Not that Elphaba was cross eyed in particular; it was the effect of the spy hole. Toto was the only one alert to the imminent danger, sensing a malevolent force around, he set about barking like a demented little fur ball.

‘Hush Toto!’

Toto paid no heed. Growling and whining at the door, he darted to and fro, scratching at the tin man’s tin ankle and drawing straw from the weary scarecrow’s heel. The scarecrow paid no attention. Dorothy fussed around him, picking him up and stroking him, whispering soothingly to him.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. All this mollycoddling thoroughly irritated her. She opened the door. Better get this over and done with.

‘Can I help you?’

Five pairs of eyes stared at the tall thin figure framing the door. Shrouded in a black cloak, eyes glinting evilly under the brim of her long pointed hat. A sharp foot tapped on the floor impatiently, a monotone rhythm.  

‘We’re looking for the wicked witch.’

The foot kept tapping. ‘Guess you’ve found her.’

The tin man dropped his axe with a thud.


	2. Chapter 2

Dorothy tried to keep her voice even but it squeaked irritatingly higher.

'You're the wicked witch?'

The witch tilted her head upward and allowed the moonlight to catch her face. Green as emerald. It was the witch alright.

'Pick up the axe, don't leave it lying around. It's dangerous.' she said to the tin man who was visibly shaking.

Toto barked for all he was worth. Elphaba leaned down with her face level with his. 'You're giving me a headache' she told him slowly. 'Stop it.' The barking turned to whimpering. 

She straightened up, looked at the company arrayed on her doorstep. The toe tapping started again. No one spoke. The lion had his face in his paws; one eye peeked out fearfully from the golden mane. The scarecrow was a stoic creature who hadn't said a word yet. Dorothy was standing there with her mouth unattractively open.

She waited for someone to make the first move. There came none. She offered the way.

'Perhaps you should come in. No use standing out in the cold.'

Nobody moved.

'Anytime today.' The tone was sharper.

The tin man shuffled his feet with a quiet clanging sound. 'Are you…inviting us in?' He ventured.

She inclined her head. 'That would be correct.'

They gaped at her like a bunch of dummies. That was what you got when you tried to be polite. She quelled the irritation rising in her and waved them through. They stepped inside silently, nervously awaiting the next move. This was started to resemble a game of chess. Elphaba hated chess. It bored her. She much preferred a game of Mikado Sticks. But with precious little human presence around, she tended to play with herself. Sometimes Chistery would come and join her, his monkey hands nimble with the sticks. But she usually ended up beating herself.

She led them into the kitchen, a great big room with the most heat in the castle. She bade them sit down and waited until they took their seats. They looked around them, waiting for the next move. She took off her cloak and threw it over her chair, cast aside her hat and sat nonchalantly back, resting on the arms.

'So. Anything you want to tell me?'

Silence.

'You came all the way up here for what? A hike? A spiritual vision? What?' She leaned forward. Everyone else leaned back in trepidation.

'Let me rephrase the question. What are you here for?'

Dorothy spoke up tremulously. 'We've been…sent.'

'By whom? Someone high and mighty I hope.'

'The Wizard of Oz' said the tin man.

'To...find you' added Dorothy.

'Interesting place to find me' said Elphaba drily. 'Considering I'm usually here, it seems a little pointless to pretend to find me. He knows where to find me.' She drummed her nails on the table, causing the lion on her left to jump. She narrowed her eyes at him.

'I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than follow a girl up to a castle to find a witch. I don't see what you get out of this little adventure.'

'Courage. The wizard said he'd give me courage.'

'Perhaps he should have given you common sense instead' retorted Elphaba.

More silence. This was turning out to be an awkward visit. Elphaba sighed. Perhaps she just wasn't cut out for entertaining after all.

'All right, I'm getting bored with this little game. State what you want, take it if I can afford it and get out.' Her impatience finally getting the better of her, Elphaba stood up and walked to the door, leaving her unwilling guests at the table. Toto began to bark again. Without turning around, the witch issued her threat. 'Tell that dog that if he is to bark again, I will get my monkey to personally dispose of him.'

Toto hushed after that.


	3. Chapter 3

Sitting in the shadows in an alcove near the kitchen, Elphaba considered turfing them all out but seeing as it was such a cold night, she thought they might have to stay. Not that she cared whether they froze or not but she didn't need an army coming up to the castle on the Wizard's orders because she had left them to die.

Ridiculous, all of this. It wasn't as if she didn't know what they were up to. The Wizard wanted the book and couldn't find another way to get hold of it but to send some unsuspecting idiots up here and hope they'd get rid of her into the bargain. He was prepared to do anything to get the book.

Soft shuffling footsteps alerted her to someone else's presence. Turning around, she saw the intruder she hadn't bothered with yet. The scarecrow. He stopped and looked at her, half in shadow. Close up, his face had a curious crosshatch pattern to it.

'Can I help you?' Unable to think of much else to say, she asked the question half heartedly.

He shrugged; his eyes still on her. 'Depends if you want help.' His voice had a soft, almost muffled resonance. 'You don't strike me as someone who wants other people's help.'  

It was true, she conceded. She had never wanted anyone's help if she could help it. Looking straight into his eyes, she gave a start. There was something familiar about him, something she couldn't quite place. His voice perhaps sounded a little familiar. Curiosity struck her and she leaned forward slowly, wanting to get a closer look at him. Did she know him?

'Have I met you before?'

A flicker of a smile gave it away. It was his eyes. Dark almond shaped eyes. The one thing remaining of his former beauty. The rest of him had changed to a figure of straw clothed in a blue tunic and grey trousers. His boots were scuffed and his hat was shabby but he stood tall, like he always had.

Incredulously she rose and took a step towards him. He didn't move. She took another step and another. Until she was so close she could take his hand, lean forward and kiss him.

She did none of those things but she very much wanted to. For so many years she had thought about him but was unprepared for this, an unconceivable reunion. 'It is you, isn't it?' She whispered.

His breath mingled with hers as he leaned in and rubbed his straw cheek against her green one.

Fiyero was back in Kiamo Ko.


	4. Chapter 4

A clatter of feet interrupted their reverie as Dorothy hurtled through the door. She stopped when she saw them, entwined in the moonlight.

'Oh!' she took a fearful step backwards. 'Am I interrupting anything?'

Elphaba scowled. It would be Dorothy that came in and ruined the moment. Nasty little brat. Dorothy started edging away when she saw the look on the green witches face. She ran back to the kitchen.

'You'll never guess! The scarecrow is outside with the witch. And they're very close...and looking at each other.' This was the extent of Dorothy's knowledge about grown up affection.

'It's all very strange' she concluded.

The lion wibbled in terror. It was his bit in life to go through everything like a frightened little mouse.

The tin man was more practical.

'Well that's wonderful.'

'It is?' Dorothy and the lion blinked in confusion.

'Of course' he was polishing his tin axe now. 'He'll distract her, we'll get what we came for and then we can escape. What are we here for again?'

'I don't remember. He didn't specify too much' said Dorothy, chewing on some of her lank hair. With all the excitement, she'd quite forgotten the reason for being here.

'I expect he didn't think we'd get this far' said the tin man philosophically.

Dorothy and the lion stared at him. A suspicion was forming in their gormless minds. Had the Wizard sent them off on a suicide mission? They had got this far but had he meant them to go any further?

'Do you mean to say...?'

''It's entirely possible. Who expected us to get this far? It was a long shot.'

'I remember what the wizard wanted' said the lion. 'He wanted us to get a book.'

'What kind of book?'

'He said a magical book. One with spells in it.'

They gazed at him, open mouthed. They remembered now. Though why he wanted them to get a book of spells, they couldn't think.

'So he wanted us to search this place and find a magic book?' Dorothy's terror had returned.

'Probably.'

'And what about the witch? What do we do with her in the way?'

'Throw her off the battlements?' suggested the tin man. 'She'd be out of the way then.'


	5. Chapter 5

Fiyero couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was almost the same as he remembered. Only she was a little older, he could see that on her. There were lines around her eyes where they used to be none and a bitter twist to her mouth. Her hair was twisted in a knot at the nape of her neck and her dress was as drab as she had always worn it. But caught in the moonlight, she looked like an exotic plant shrouded in the darkness. He thought he would never see her again. And here she was, living in his castle like she was his wife, Sarima. Sarima who he had never loved as much as Elphaba, whom he could never had spent long stolen nights with, not the woman who could make his heat beat faster or think of with the passion that he could only reserve for his Fabala. She was the only woman on his mind for a long time and now, out of the confines of his head, she had become real, almost like a mirage in front of him. Except that the cold fingers clasping his collar was not an apparition. She was real.  

'What are you doing here?'

'On a sympathy mission.'

'What sympathy mission?'

'Well I met Dorothy and sympathised with her. It was the least I could do after she rescued me from that cornfield.'

She knew Fiyero was trying to make a joke out of and despite her gloomy mood, her mouth curled up in the hint of a smile. He took that as encouragement.

'I can't explain to you how I feel now that I've seen you.' He shook his head in disbelief.

She said nothing but the catch in her breath and the look in her eyes told him that she was on the same wavelength. How long she had thought of him, certain of his death at the hands of the Gale Force.

They were interrupted by Dorothy who had run back to request that the witch and scarecrow be present in the kitchen. 'It's very important you see' she explained breathlessly, big eyes switching nervously between them. 'We need to ask you for something.' 

'So you did come here for something' flared up the witch immediately. The scarecrow put him arm on hers and curiously, she subsided.

'Let's just see' he said, taking a step to the kitchen. She reluctantly followed. Dorothy could hardly believe her luck. Elphaba took her seat at the table with the others, waiting for the bombshell to be dropped.  She sat with her chin on steepled fingers, waiting suspiciously for the request. She had half a mind to turn it down immediately out of uncharacteristic spite. Soon she would find out that she didn't even have to resort to that.

'The wizard asked us to come here to bring something to him' announced Dorothy. The witch didn't move. 'Something useful and precious he said.' Elphaba raised an eyebrow but still said nothing. Dorothy took a deep breath.

'A book. He wants a book of spells.'


	6. Chapter 6

'He wants WHAT?!'

Elphaba leapt up and pointed an accusing finger at the quaking Dorothy. 'I knew you would bring me misery! You thieving little thing, how dare you come here and demand the book of spells!'

Dorothy trembled in her chair and wailed piteously 'I'm not a thief! I only came here to ask you for it because that's what the wizard wants!'

'And what the wizard wants, the wizard gets, is that it?' Elphaba advanced on the wretched girl, eyes blazing at the indignity of it all. How should the wizard get what he didn't deserve when others had to live in fear and enslavement for the rest of their lives? And now he had this snivelling child coming here to beg on his behalf for the books of spells! She leaned across the table, almost in throttling range; her fingers itched to close themselves around that childish throat.

'You'll never get it' she hissed, 'never!'

Dorothy burst out sobbing. The lion was cowering under the table at this point and the tin man was frozen to the chair. The scarecrow gently prised the witch's hands from the table and softly murmured something soothing.  Elphaba's anger subsided slightly and she allowed herself to be sat back in her chair. The silence was like a thunder clap around the room, punctuated with the girl's snuffled hiccups and quiet wibbling coming from under the table. The tin man leaned down and drew out the frightened lion by the tail. A face peered out fearfully from by the table leg nearest Dorothy. Elphaba took no notice.

'You are a mere child, you won't be able to give him that book without suffering some misfortune on the way' she growled through her teeth. Dorothy raised her face from the grubby handkerchief to stare in terror at what that might mean.

Fiyero coughed slightly, trying to diffuse the tension. It didn't work. Dorothy turned alarmed eyes to him. 'What will it do to me?' She whispered. Having not seen the book and not knowing what it contained, he was unable to answer.

'It is a powerful magic in that book.' Elphaba told her, still glowering. 'It is almost indescribable, it is barely legible but it is powerful.'

'What does legible mean?' Asked the tin man interestedly.

'It's not easily read' said Fiyero.

'I'm not that good a reader' said Dorothy tremulously.

'Nobody asked you to read it!' Snapped Elphaba immediately. The girl cowered back in her seat, hiding behind her handkerchief once more.

'You couldn't understand it if you spent the rest of your life trying to' taunted the witch.

'Then surely it's for the wizard to interpret' retorted the tin man. Elphaba's eyes flew to him. He was sitting there stoically with his tin axe beside him. At the chance of a fight, Elphaba thought that he would stand up and mechanically demolish everything in sight. She considered getting him on her side and then realised that he wasn't on anyone's side, he was just there on orders and he didn't seem to care whose. That just left the lion.


	7. Chapter 7

'And what is the wizard going to interpret with that book?' Elphaba's voice dripped sarcasm.

The tin man scratched his head. 'I don't know. He never said. He just wanted the book.'

'So he could have just wanted it to prop up his coffee table?' She asked slyly. The tin man looked confused.

'I'm not sure I saw a coffee table there' he mused. Dorothy leapt up in accusation. 'Don't listen to her! She's trying to confuse us. She's trying to set us against the wizard.'

'Too late' murmured Elphaba mockingly.

Another cough from the scarecrow and Elphaba rose from the table. 'Fascinating as this all is, I think I'll have a word outside with your other friend. Perhaps he can knock some sense into your tiny tin brain.'

Fiyero gave no sign that any of this affected him as he followed her out of the kitchen.

'Those shoes' she stated, no preamble.

'I know. I've seen them too. She said that Glinda gave them to her.' Elphaba eyed him suspiciously.

'What?'

Her tone could have frozen acid.

'You didn't know?'

'Of course I knew.' Her mind went back to the last time she had seen that infuriating woman whom she had been friends with until then. 'She told me. I didn't believe her.'

'Well I didn't see her give them to her. That was before I met Dorothy. I've not seen Glinda for years.' His dark eyes looked into hers. 'But he's serious you know. He wants that book.'

'Well he's not getting it.'

'He's dangerous' he warned her.

'As if I didn't know.' Elphaba didn't mention that his daughter was the only one left from this castle still alive, how the wizard had tried to sell her back with pages of the book. She had begged him for Nor's release but to no avail. He meant to get that book. She was ashamed of what Fiyero might think of her. She turned away.

'You're trying to get the book from me?'

He stared at her incomprehensibly.

'You're with them. Against me. That means you will try to take the book.'

'Elphaba! I don't care for this book, whatever it is. I came here for you. Not for...'

'Your family?' Elphaba arched her eyebrows and waited for his to defend his family, his wife Sarima, his dead sons, his daughter, even those infernal sisters in law. He did no such thing.

'I know they are no longer here. And what has happened to them. Trapped in this body, I had no way of aiding them. But I had the chance to come back here if I joined in this...'

'Pretence of an adventure? Certainly. But what did you think you would find?'

'I'm not sure' he admitted. 'I just know that you were here and that was enough for me. We've been through a lot to get here.'

'And now you must go back with nothing. What a shame.'

'You don't think I ally my allegiance to them?'

'You're here with them, in concept that is enough.' She turned away from him once more, leaving him in despair.


	8. Chapter 8

She always had that volatile spark in her, temperamental to say the least. He couldn't fool himself that she had changed in all of those turbulent years without him. He couldn't change her and he had fallen in love with that person, against all the odds. But every time he thought he could get that little closer, she locked him out. It had taken a lot of coaxing to find out her code name and he didn't use it now, in front of this unwitting bunch of spies.

'Elphaba. Please come back.'

She stopped at the end of the hall and considered how much it was worth, this book of spells she had sworn to protect. She had never thought it was possible that she would want to give it up for the comfort of another's arms. There had never been anyone other than Fiyero and she wouldn't give anything up even for him. But a strange feeling was stealing over her, quite unlike anything she had felt. Was it yearning for the touch of his fingers on her skin? She had gone so long without it she could barely remember. Elphaba didn't romanticise about anything, could never see the point of the rosy side but now a feeling of longing swept over her and she had to lean against the wall to steady herself. Taking the easy way out had never been Elphaba's style but for a second or two, she let everything go blank. In the dark his voice seemed stronger, ensnaring velvet rope around her mind. She closed her eyes for a second and opened them to an oppressive darkness.

'I'm not here for the book. It means nothing to me. But I suspect you'll consider it far more of worth to fight against the wizard with than be involved with me again.'

'Only this time you don't have Sarima and the children to deal with.' He expected anger, certain bitterness. He only heard quiet resignation. He had to ask.

'You were disappointed that she came first?'

'Not at all. You had to marry her. How could you do your duty without having agreed to this arrangement?'

This was true as he well knew. Neither he nor Samira were destined to choose their future. But he wanted to let her know that she was the one he had loved, not Sarima. He could feel Sarima's benign presence around and for the first time, he was getting irate about it. He knew he should feel ashamed that he was carrying on with his mistress in his former marital home when his wife had been so cruelly indisposed of but the mild mannered scarecrow was experiencing the peculiar range of emotions that hadn't occurred when he was a flesh and blood man. Guilt he knew from the last months of his former life as he continued the affair but he never had any reason to feel angry at his wife. He tried to push it away and act otherwise. His words sounded hollow, without meaning.

'I won't pretend that I loved Sarima like the way I love you. But she was my wife and I've got to respect her memory.'

Elphaba moved back into the moonlight.

'And your children? What about them?'

For a moment, he couldn't speak. His children, his two sons and his daughter. What had become of them? Certain death, he knew no details. It had been a long time now, he knew. He hadn't known for a long time, not till the news of their imprisonment had reached him. It didn't mean that he didn't care.

Hesitant footsteps came to a halt behind him and he turned around to see Dorothy tug at one of her plaits worriedly whilst requesting a return to the kitchen table. The lion it transpired, needed something to help stop him hyperventilate and would the witch show them where the paper bags were kept, please and thank you?

'In the top drawer of the cabinet on the left of the stove' snapped Elphaba.

The girl disappeared fast as quicksilver. Elphaba swivelled him around to look at her and asked him again.

'Your children?'

Fiyero hesitated.

'I hadn't had much contact with them' he admitted. 'Sarima was here to look after them and they had their aunts...' He trailed off to an impassive Elphaba, who had known his children longer than he had.

'I've lived here for years, Fiyero. Your children each had distinct personalities and I won't lie and tell you they were perfect. But they were your children.' She didn't mention the other child lurking around the castle, Liir, who had also laid a claim on his father.

'I had to travel' he stammered, feeling the guilt overwhelm him.

'They didn't know any better. There's no need to feel guilty for it.'

He stood there rubbing his straw face with his straw hands and looking wretched. 'I wish I could cry over this, but I can't' he explained. 'I have no way of doing so.' Elphaba empathised. She laid a hand over his and reassured him. 'I have much the same problem.'

For a minute Fiyero wondered what she meant. Then he remembered that she avoided water of any kind. It didn't occur to him until then that it could include tears.


	9. Chapter 9

They returned to the kitchen, much subdued. The others were sitting there waiting their decision. She motioned to a chair and the scarecrow sat. The silence was deafening. She put her hands on the table and leaned forward to Dorothy.

'Don't think for one minute that I will let you have that book. It's not yours to take.'

'But...'

'It's not for the Wizard to use' said Elphaba, ignoring Dorothy's interruption.

'You can't keep it here forever.'

'I can actually. I don't own the book itself. Nobody can. I'm keeping it safe.' Her steady gaze swept around the table, appraising each and every one of the band of thieves that sat there. Her gaze lingered for a second longer on the scarecrow and then she turned to glare at little Toto, lying on the floor with his head on his paws looking defeated.

'What is actually in the book?' All heads turned to stare at the tin man. 'We've not been told yet.'

'Perhaps it's not for you to know.'

'Well I want to know what it is we've risked our lives coming here for.' He wasn't stupid, this tin man.

'It's a book of spells.'

'What kind of spells?' Whispered the lion.

'All kinds of spells. I don't know all of them yet.'

'So you don't know what's in the book?' The tin man's shrewd eyes stared at her.

'Not everything, no.' Elphaba tried to keep her temper. 'It's a difficult book to read.'

'But the spells in it are dangerous?' Dorothy stared at her with her mouth open.

'Potentially yes.'

'What does that mean?'

'It means that it's probably very dangerous and you shouldn't be meddling with it' she snapped.

'So why are you?'

'I'm not inciting the magic, I'm just trying to translate it' she replied, a little untruthfully.

'But some of them could be useful in helping people.' Dorothy's face lit up. 'So the wizard must want it because he can use the magic to help people!'

Elphaba snorted. 'The wizard wants it to control all of Oz' she sneered at the girl, 'it's got nothing to do with giving people what they want. He's managed to enslave most of the Animals, what makes you think he won't move onto people?'

'He already has' said the scarecrow without thinking.

'See? Not content on silencing the Animals, he's making this whole country into a dictatorship. Much like the place you must come from.'

'Oh the animals don't talk where I come from.'

'Well then it's already happened in your world' said Elphaba dismissively.

'Can we at least see this magical book?' Asked the tin man.

'Absolutely not.'

'Oh let's' argued an eager Dorothy. She piped down when Elphaba shot her a look of deep loathing.

'It is not a toy to be played with and looked at' she hissed to the poor girl.

'Stop bullying her' growled the lion, surprising everyone. Dorothy gave him a look of gratitude. Elphaba wasn't scared of him. She looked him up and down with a withering glace and left it at that. 'I'm sure Dorothy can stand her ground without needing you fight her battles for her. She'll have to learn when she gets back to her own world. When do you go back there?' She addressed Dorothy who turned scarlet and muttered about not knowing exactly when and something about Glinda.

'Did Glinda tell you some nonsense about how to get home?'

'Well, she said there was a way but she hasn't told me yet.'

'If I knew how, I would get you there quicker than you could imagine,' said Elphaba.

A thought struck Dorothy.

'Do you know Glinda?'

'Yes, I knew her. A long time ago. We used to be friends.'

Dorothy couldn't possibly imagine how the generous Glinda and the prickly green witch could have possibly known each other, much less got on but she nodded.

'Show us the book' said the tin man.

Elphaba looked at him suspiciously. She didn't trust that tin man.


	10. Chapter 10

The book was heavy and dusty, making Dorothy cough pedantically. They looked at Elphaba, as if she could make it work with a wave of her thin hand. She looked back at them. ‘It’s not as if I can do magic out of thin air. It took me years to understand a page or two.’

‘What’s the point of that then?’ Asked the tin man.

‘Not everything that exists has a meaning or a point to it.’

‘That makes no sense’ said Dorothy.

‘It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s enough that it exists.’

‘That’s difficult.’ Dorothy’s brow furrowed with the difficulty of it all. She was not cut out for the metaphysics of the world.  

Elphaba sighed tiredly. She had enough of this. ‘Here is the book; you wanted to see it, now time for you to go.’

‘Wait! Let’s just see a few pages.’ Dorothy looked eager at discovering something new. In the whole of her little Kansas life she never thought she could find something to wondrous and magical as this, no matter if she didn’t understand it. They looked carefully as Elphaba lifted a couple of pages, staring intently at the strange markings scribbled across the coarse paper.

‘I see nothing that makes sense’ said the tin man, breaking the silence in the kitchen as the others murmured much the same. Fiyero wasn’t disappointed but he did expect something from it, not sure what. He knew he couldn’t understand the magic involved and he had no wish to but something in there must catch Elphaba’s eye if she studied it day and night.

‘It’s complicated’ said Elphaba as she shut the book with a snap. Dust billowed out and shrouded them for a minute. They looked for her once it had cleared but she had gone, taking the sought after book of nonsense.

‘Good luck to them I say’ muttered the tin man. ‘Crazy, the lot of them. All of them after this book, it won’t bring them anything much.’

‘She’s not trying to do anything with it’ the scarecrow reminded him. ‘She’s keeping it safe.’

‘So what would the wizard want with it?’ Asked the lion anxiously.

‘Nothing good’ concluded Fiyero.

‘But he promised me I could go home said Dorothy. ‘What if he could use the book to get me back home?’

‘What if he can’t and said that to get the book? What if he’s using you?’

‘He wouldn’t do that? Would he?’ Dorothy was learning more than she could have imagined on this adventure.

‘Of course he would’ said the tin man. ‘He means to get that book.’

‘Are we certain we want to get it for him?’ Asked the scarecrow softly.

The tin man looked at him with cold grey eyes.

‘Depends if we think he can give us what we need.’

‘Pick a side?’

‘I’m sticking with him until I get proof she can help us better’ said the tin man stubbornly.

‘Fine. I’ve had enough of this. I want out’ Fiyero exclaimed and strode out of the room.

Dorothy and the lion quaked in their chairs. Their little band of adventurers were being eroded.


	11. Chapter 11

It didn’t take too long to find her. Nearby sitting on the window ledge a tall thin figure sat hunched over the book. Fiyero sat on the other side and attempted to engage her in conversation.

‘Can’t you find a way of contacting Glinda?’

‘You think she’s going to solve everything? Play happy families with that brat and her dog? She’s as much in the control of the wizard as everyone else. She doesn’t have enough real powers.’

‘Then what to do?’ He asked exasperatedly. ‘How are you to defeat the wizard?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘You think hiding out here is going to help?’

‘Well it’s worked great for me so far!’ She flared up. ‘I’m safe here.’

‘You never used to care for being safe. You always got yourself involved in danger, you threw yourself into it, it was your job.’

‘And look where that got me. I lost you.’ Her dark eyes were fathomless. He said nothing. She hadn’t actually lost him but he didn’t feel the need to point that out. He didn’t know where his future lay. As a scarecrow, he hadn’t even a sense of a future anymore. Dorothy had saved him from a monotonous existence but she had to go home now and he didn’t know where he stood. The others he felt no loyalty to, it was their business as to what they did with their lives. He needed something more.

‘You’d prefer I give them the book? Let the wizard do what he wants with the world?’

‘No.’

Privately he thought if they were all damned to a lifetime of suffering they should just get on with it and find comfort where they could. He wanted to find his comfort with Elphaba. He longed for it to be just him and her and a world with nobody else. She was far more principled and opinionated than him. She would never give in.


	12. Chapter 12

‘So you won’t give us the book?’ Dorothy’s disappointment was palpable. Elphaba folded her arms stubbornly. ‘You had a wasted journey.’

‘We came all the way here and then nothing?’ Dorothy could cry.

‘That’s not my problem’ said the witch softly. ‘I never promised you anything.’

‘The wizard said I could get the book and then he’d get me home!’

‘It is not up to the wizard to make decisions for other people; he can’t promise what he can’t deliver or promise something that isn’t his. It is up to me to decide to give you the book and for the reasons I have outlined, I won’t be doing so. I won’t be responsible for the havoc he’ll wreak upon this world.’

‘What about my world?’ Tears were falling onto the stone floor as Dorothy gave into her emotion. ‘What if I never see Kansas again? Dear old Kansas!’ Toto jumped up into her arms and licked her tears away. Elphaba’s lip curled disdainfully but said nothing. She waited. The lion came and wrapped his arms around Dorothy in solace. ‘If it’s any consolation, if he didn’t mean to send you back home, then he never meant to give what he promised us either.’

‘Then we can go.’ The tin man stood up and walked to the door. ‘There is nothing to keep us here.’

‘Don’t you care about who will do what?’ Elphaba couldn’t help asking him curiously. ‘No thoughts as to what would happen if you changed the course of history with one inadvertent action?’

He looked at her blankly. ‘No.’

She could see that he didn’t know of these things and didn’t care. He would work for whoever would give him the most. A simple attitude. She shook her head at this. Almost as bad as a non- talking animal.

 


	13. Chapter 13

Dorothy sat on the stairs and despaired. She couldn’t think what to do. This witch wasn’t as nice as the other witch. She wished Glinda would come to rescue her. The wizard wouldn’t get this book and she would get never get to go home. She snuffled miserably to herself. A small bark heralded the arrival of her faithful pet and she buried her face in the ragged fur and used him as her cuddle blanket. Toto was not amused.

The lion came over to sit with her and the three of them cut miserable figures in the waning moonlight, for morning was approaching and they had failed in their mission. Dorothy was thinking despondently of the corn fields of home, the lion was thinking ruefully of his lost courage and little Toto was thinking longingly of breakfast. He wriggled out of his mistresses’ grasp in search of food, for there must be some in this strange place.

‘Oh no! Toto! Don’t go! Don’t leave me!’ Dorothy wailed pathetically to his disappearing tail.  

Elphaba snorted. They looked up in alarm as she watched them from the top of the stairs. ‘When are you losers going to get going?’ She asked unsympathetically. Dorothy sniffed in reply. The lion tried his hand at bravery.

‘When we know where we’re going next.’

‘Which is where? No hope Kansas? Back to the city of Oz?’ She sneered.

‘If it gets me home, then yes!’

‘It won’t. Best call up Glinda and see if she can help. I doubt it.’

Dorothy jumped to her feet, an idea forming in her head.

‘You could talk to Glinda for me! Find a way to get me back home! And I’ll forget all about the book and wizard and everything!’

Elphaba started. ‘You want me to be your personal secretary and organise your taxi home? Forget it.’

‘Please!’

‘What do you expect me to do? Call her up with a spell?’

‘Yes’ said Dorothy eagerly.

‘Fool!’ The witch hit the banister in place of hitting the girl. She really was a stupid little thing. ‘What do you think we do in this world? Conjure up people with spells?’

‘Well...maybe.’

Elphaba looked at her witheringly. ‘All I have to do is send her a message, idiot girl.’

‘With a secret code?’

‘With a monkey.’ She nodded to one of the mutant monkeys at the window. Dorothy shuddered.

‘Could you do it?’ Asked the lion.

‘I could. But it’s not worth it.’

‘But why?’ Dorothy wailed.

‘Because, you little fool, the wizard is watching her too. She is merely a pawn in his game. She can get you nowhere. Any excuse for something to go wrong, on my head be it and her with me if they think she is part of it.’

Dorothy wilted.

‘So take a right turn through to the big front door and carry on down the rocks back to the city because there is nothing to help you here’ she carried on. ‘And get on with it, I don’t have all day waiting for you to vacate.’

A shrieking from the kitchen cut her pleasantries short. It was the tin man, holding one of the monkeys by the tail to see how far it could run. Elphaba marched in, picked up the spade from next to the stove and wacked him round the head with it. He crumpled to the ground.

‘You little toe rag.’

She hurled another spiteful bash at him. Elphaba was understandably angry.


	14. Chapter 14

‘Get that chunk of tin out of my kitchen!’ she shrieked. The others came running and stopped to stare at the inert figure on the floor, a dent in his head.

‘He’s going to get an awful headache when he wakes up’ observed Dorothy.

‘Never mind that, what about my monkey?’ Snapped Elphaba. The poor monkey leapt onto her shoulder and chattered away in distress. Elphaba reached out a hand and stroked his back reassuringly with quiet soothing noises, to the confusion of the group, bar one. Only Fiyero knew that she was capable of such tenderness but it confused Dorothy to the utmost. She could never think of the vile little creatures as pets, as how she felt for Toto but the witch must do. This had never occurred to her.

‘All of you are leaving’ Elphaba informed her. ‘Right now. And take him with you.’ She aimed a kick at the lifeless lump on the floor. The lion did as he was told and dragged the tin man over to the door.

The scarecrow stepped forward. ‘Right now?’

The witch looked at him and seemed to consider the options of letting him stay or leave. Dorothy was definitely going, that much was for sure. The lion could go with her for all she cared. The tin man would hopefully be used as scrap. It was the scarecrow she wanted to stay, he whom she wanted to trust. She took a step forward.

‘Can I trust you?’ She asked softly.

The scarecrow took another step forward. ‘I think you can’ he replied quietly. The gap between them was so close they could almost touch. The monkey leapt off of her shoulder and went to investigate the fruit bowl.

Dorothy was looking between them, like watching a tennis match.

‘Does this have anything to do with the book?’ she asked uncertainly.

Elphaba whirled around in irritation; that little brat had spoiled the moment yet again.

‘This has got nothing to do with you, keep out of it!’

‘So when do I get to go home?’ The girl wailed.

‘Hopefully as soon as you click your heels three times!’ Elphaba snapped at her. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

‘Should I do that?’ Asked Dorothy eagerly.

‘I don’t know’ muttered Elphaba. The scarecrow stared at her. She met his gaze and shrugged in irritation. ‘It sounds like something Glinda would say, that’s all.’

Dorothy squeaked happily. This was the ticket home, she knew it!


	15. Chapter 15

‘Is this a joke?’ Fiyero asked uncertainly.

‘Yes it’s a joke.’

Dorothy looked downcast.

‘Well really, could you take that seriously?’ Asked the witch. The lion looked unusually thoughtful. ‘You know it could work. The power of wishes works in mysterious ways.’

‘Oh shut up. Anyone would think you actually knew how the world of magic worked’ snapped Elphaba.

‘Can we try? Please?’ Pleaded the gullible Dorothy. She felt she had no one else to turn to. ‘Why not give it a go?’ Suggested the scarecrow quietly in her ear. Elphaba gave him a withering glare. ‘It means you can get rid of her sooner.’

‘If it works.’ She rolled her eyes sceptically. She refrained from pointing out that it most certainly wouldn’t.

‘Please let me go home’ implored Dorothy piteously.

Elphaba resisted the urge to throw something heavy at her. ‘I hope this stupid wish will work so I can never see you again’ she hissed to the pathetic child. Dorothy’s lip quivered.

‘Don’t be so mean’ reprimanded the lion to the witch. One look from her sent him wibbling back in the corner.

‘I don’t recall asking your opinion.’ Her eyesight zoomed down to Dorothy’s feet. ‘And I still haven’t understood what you are doing with my sister’s shoes?’ Her eyes bored into the unfortunate subject. The shiny shoes glinted on the farm girl’s feet. ‘Don’t tell me she gave them to you.’

‘Glinda gave them to me’ whispered Dorothy.

‘I’ll sort her out later. When are you going to give me those shoes?’

‘What will I wear?’ Quavered the wretched girl.

‘I don’t know and I don’t care’ countered the heartless green witch. ‘I’m not your mother to clothe you. Didn’t she teach you not to steal people’s shoes?’

‘My parents are dead.’

‘Well they aren’t much use to you at any rate’ observed Elphaba unfeelingly. ‘I may not have seen eye to eye with my sister but these shoes are the last of her and I want them back. Understood?’

‘I will find a way to give you the shoes if I can get home’ wailed Dorothy.

‘How do I know you will do that?’

‘What if she just tries it?’ The scarecrow reasoned with her. ‘If it doesn’t work, what’s the harm in trying?’

Elphaba stomped around the room in a temper. She could think of no counter argument. ‘Fine.’ She stomped back to Dorothy. ‘But if this doesn’t work, I’m throwing you out. And you can fly back for all I care.’

‘You have a monkey big enough to ride?’ Dorothy sounded in awe.

‘No. I have a broom. And that’s all you’re getting’ snapped Elphaba. Dorothy gulped.

Everyone fervently hoped it would work. Elphaba shooed everyone away from the girl. Facing her, she took a deep breath to calm her temper. ‘So, let’s continue this farce’ she said drily.

‘Think of your wish’ advised the lion as Dorothy stood in the centre of the room. Closing her eyes and wishing very hard, Dorothy knocked her heels together several times while wishing very hard. Elphaba stifled an uncharacteristic snigger. The girl looked like a fool. Fiyero had a hand over his mouth, eyes looking to the window. The lion was looking determinedly at the floor.

‘Did it work?’ Dorothy opened her eyes and realised she was still there. Her shoulders slumped. Toto came running out of the kitchen with a large piece of meat in his jaws. Sitting down by Dorothy, he began to chew noisily, ignoring the drama in the room.

‘Perhaps I clicked my heels too many times’ said Dorothy morosely. ‘You said three times.’ Elphaba put her head in her hands. In the history of humanity had there ever been so stupid a girl?

‘Don’t take what I say for gospel’ she suggested through gritted teeth.

‘But you said three times! So I’ve got to try it. I just got so carried away I guess.’ Dorothy looked forlorn. The lion put his arms around her in consolation. ‘How about you wish out loud next time?’ He suggested.

Elphaba was struck with a strange idea. ‘Wait.’ She ran upstairs. Fiyero let her go; he hadn’t a clue what her objective was. He just hoped she wasn’t coming down with a large meat cleaver to get of Dorothy once and for all.

She ran upstairs as far as she could and went straight to the book. It was a crazy plan but what could she lose if it worked? Unearthing from its hiding place, she traced the markings on the cover delicately, with a green finger for the last time; looking out of the window in time to see the dawn breaking. Time for a decision.

She ran downstairs and thrust it into Dorothy’s arms, the girl staggering with the weight. They all looked at her in amazement, apart from Toto who was too busy stuffing his greedy guts.

‘Why are you giving me the book?’ Asked Dorothy in confusion. ‘I can’t read it.’

‘I never said you were to read it, stupid girl. But if this thing will actually work, you take the book with you. Then the wizard will never find it.’

The scarecrow put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Are you sure?’

She looked at it one last time, for a long minute, then nodded.

‘I need to be rid of this thing.’

She had made up her mind. The girl was too stupid to understand it; she could bury it in the garden or use it for pigswill for all she cared. She did care, she knew she did but she couldn’t care for it any more. This battle might go on for so long it could kill her.

‘Will the wizard come after me?’

‘He can’t find you if you just disappear into thin air’ reasoned the lion.

‘So go on, try it again’ Elphaba urged her. They all looked at her, Toto with his head cocked to one side. His hostess was a strange thing but the meal provided from her kitchen was most satisfactory. A change had come over her. She seemed anxious. Only Fiyero could know what it meant to her, to be free from the book.

The lion embraced the girl and bent down to pick up Toto and put him in Dorothy’s arms on top of the book. Fiyero suspected the vile little thing would pee on it once they got back. If they ever got back.

Dorothy shut her eyes and counted to three. Then she restructured her wish and started the mantra out loud in time to the clicking of her heels. _‘There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.’_


	16. Chapter 16

A silvery mist started at her feet and drew itself slowly up, shrouding her in fine iridescent smoke. The outsiders stared as the mist swirled around her, seemingly taking her away from them, Toto barks getting shriller and Dorothy’s tearful face getting blurrier. ‘Goodbye! Thank you! Goodbye!’ She was crying out and the lion waved frantically and shouted back ‘Goodbye Dorothy!’ The scarecrow only lifted a hand in response.

Elphaba was almost entranced by this phenomenon, she had never made a magic that took such a form. She had even forgotten her threat if the ridiculous spell wouldn’t have worked but Dorothy, for the first time in her life, remembered something of significance. She bent down, her face disappearing for a second and before she vanished into thin air, the shoes had been thrown from the fray of silver, clattering onto the floor with a final thud as the girl, her dog and the precious book faded from sight. They lay there, free of feet and helplessly calling to Elphaba. She ran forward to pick them up and the minute her hands touched them, they seemed to relax and sigh contentedly. A cool breeze flitted in through the windows and the tension of the night seemed to ebb away. She knelt on the floor and looked at them, those glimmering shoes.

A loud sniff made her look up as the lion wiped tears away from his furry face. ‘That was sad’ he muttered. ‘But I’m glad she’s finally gone back. She was so homesick you know.’ Elphaba found that she didn’t care for talking right now. She laid her attention on the shoes again. The scarecrow looked over her shoulder and saw the silvery light reflecting on that severe beauty of her face. She looked radiant. A slight smile tugged at her eyes and her mouth was no longer twisted and bitter. Fiyero realised how much she must have missed her sister, as trying as she had been. For Elphaba would have done almost anything for Nessarose. But she couldn’t help her in the end, only Nessa could have done that herself. She had died not knowing any better but Elphaba had another chance. An unknown feeling of joy was welling up in her, like she had never seen the dawn so clearly as before.

‘Well I guess I’d better be going now.’ The lion’s thoughts had broken the spell. He scratched his head, tears all dried with the help of a tablecloth from the kitchen that Toto had mauled. ‘Can I get some provisions before I go?’

Elphaba felt light headed. ‘Take what you want from the kitchen.’ The lion wasted no time in emptying the cupboards and drinking out of the tap. ‘Take that piece of tin with you’ added the witch as he left by the front door, merrily swinging his tufty tail.

‘It’s funny’ he mused, as he swung the still unconscious tin man on his shoulders, ready for the way down. ‘I feel better now. Kind of...liberated. Even though I’m not sure I’ve learned much.’

‘Saying goodbye to a friend is courage enough’ Fiyero assured him.

‘You know, I think you’re right’ said the lion easily. ‘I’ll dump him in the nearest town I think. Goodbye then.’ They stood by the door and waved him off into the sunrise, figure blazing bronze against the light.

Elphaba could hardly believe it was real, that the nightmare had drifted away with the early morning breeze. She looked at the shoes in her hands, sparkling like the sunlight on water. She suddenly didn’t feel so afraid of water now.

She sat on the floor again and admired them some more. Fiyero came to sit by her and they spent another few minutes staring at them. Then he slowly slid a hand up her ankle, revealing the heavy boots she always wore and leisurely untied the laces. She said nothing. He eased them off of her feet, encased in their plain woollen black stockings. She still said nothing. He put the stockings to one side and stroked her long slender feet and toes, they curled up and down as his touch seared into her veins. She closed her eyes and sighed inaudibly. But he heard. Taking the shoes from her, he glided each one gently onto her foot. As if it were made for her, they fit perfectly. She drew her feet up and stroked the shoes softly, almost admired her feet in them. Fiyero leaned in, slipped her collar down and kissed her shoulder. She leaned into him as he brushed her hair back and wrapped his arms around her.

‘I don’t think I can walk in these’ said she with a faint smile.

‘So let’s practice’ said he.

‘Maybe later.’

‘What would you say to him if he came looking for the book?’

‘The wizard? I’d tell him to look down the well for it.’ She stifled a laugh. ‘Good luck to him.’ It was out of her hands.

They lay on the floor comfortably entwined. They had no need for anything else. They were all that mattered in this world.


End file.
